The invention relates to a method for examining food products such as meat to detect undesired ingredients, such as bone fragments, by means of irradiation.
In consequence to the increased demand for a larger assortment of food products, such as meat, fish and poultry, increasing automation has occurred in the respective sectors of the industry. With such an automation, of which an example is the mechanical filleting of chickens, a higher production capacity is obtained than would be the case without automation. However, a disadvantage of such automation is that a final check of the food product is required, for example, to determine the presence of bone fragments or the like.
A known method for examining food products by means of irradiation uses X-rays. However, large scale use of X-rays for examining food products is commercially unattractive, for the consumer does not like to buy food products which have been treated with X-rays. An indication on the final product that has been examined, using X-rays, would have very negative consequences on the commercial success of such a food product.